Wednesday, February 10, 2016

The Trump of the Democrats

Bernie Sanders' win in New Hampshire is another example of populist rhetoric's triumph over common sense.

In a nation that has a problem with personal debt, the election of a self-professed socialist is inconceivable. If America intends to default on all its national debt, internal and external, then his election makes sense. A socialist government must deny debt in order to function because in a socialist government there is no personal property, no personal profit, and no personally owned business. The government is the sole employer and provider.

If, as I have pointed out in an earlier post, America truly is a social democracy, then the election of Sanders makes even less sense. In a social democracy, capitalistic values still remain including the concept of personal property, personal profit, and individual responsibility. All of those ideas are anathema to socialism.

But this is not what Sanders is selling. Sanders is pandering to the generation pampered by a burgeoning welfare state. He is promising not just a chicken in every pot. He is promising a house to go around the kitchen that cooks it. He is promising cradle to grave care from a government that is mother and father.

Up until now, the government has at least put on a beneficent face. Under Sanders' administration, even this will be abandoned. Not because the people couldn't adjust to a socialist society. That would be a minor thing, considering how far along we are already. No, it would be the impact on the rest of the world.

America is a global policeman. Whenever there is a global crisis, the world automatically asks why America isn't doing something to fix it. At least, that's what we are taught. It's not necessarily true. How did all those nations get along without the USA before 1776?

After WWII, the USA and USSR emerged as superpowers and overshadowed the rest of the world. The nations of the world learned they had to cater to the whims of one or the other if they wanted to survive in the global scene. The farce of the United Nations put a pretty facade on the truth. The world had been conquered not by the Axis but by the Allies. They may not have marched into the countries with tanks and infantry but they had conquered nonetheless.

That is something that continues to cast its shadow over the world even today. Since the fall of the USSR, the expense of maintaining that shadow has fallen solely on the USA and its tax payers. Without private enterprise to absorb some of that expense through generation of external revenue, the government will have to either pull back its military for economic reasons (the most likely scenario) or impose massive taxation on the population after the collapse of the private sector.

Maintaining a standing army is a massive expense. Sanders recognizes this and has consistently spoken out against defense spending. In a Sanders' administration, the executive orders would find a new target. The result on the world stage would be an unintended consequence that would make the Syrian refugee crisis look like a field trip for sixth graders.

The Commentator

I have been writing speculative fiction for over 40 years, but only
recently have I been able to pursue it full-time. After retiring from
my position as an air traffic controller, I decided to devote myself to
my writing, not realizing I was trading one stressful career for
another. Nevertheless, through my short fiction and novels, at least I
have an outlet for my obsession with the written word.